Standard&Poor's placed its 'AAA' unsolicited long-term sovereign rating on the Republic of France on CreditWatch with negative implications on Dec. 5, 2011. Consequently, we are placing the 'A+' long-term counterparty credit ratings on Crédit Agricole and most of its core subsidiaries on CreditWatch negative. We are also placing the 'A/A-1' long- and short-term ratings on highly strategic subsidiary Banque de Financement et de Trésorerie (BFT) on CreditWatch negative. We are affirming the 'A-1' short-term ratings on Crédit Agricole and most of its core subsidiaries. We are also placing the 'A/A-1' long- and short-term ratings on Italy-based core subsidiary Cassa di Risparmio di Parma e Piacenza SpA (Cariparma) on CreditWatch negative. We aim to resolve the CreditWatch placement within
